Fri 22 May – Mediæval Bæbes
I headed off in the car from Cambridge around 5pm, and drove to Bedford and listened to Qntal on the way to get me in the mood. I parked up in Bedford and went to the very cheap and excellent Chinese buffet I like there. Yumm.
I then headed on to Milton Keynes - well Wavendon actually, to The Stables Theatre, which is in the country, and is all quite posh. I got there a bit early, expecting doors to open significantly before the performance time, and indeed the bar and merchandise was open, but not the auditorium yet. Not my usual gig - most people clearly middle aged, middle class Classic FM listeners - still I saw one lass with an Epica sweatshirt, so I wasn't entirely out of my element.
After a while everyone was allowed in and I took my seat in the 3rd row. Not entirely used to this - much more used to getting to the front by force of will / elbow as well as queuing early. Still makes a change.
Also it is a pretty modern and posh venue. Rather different to Ely Cathedral where I saw them last December (and that was such a stunning venue, I came here not really expecting quite as much).
The Baebes once again were backed up a selection of instruments of a suitably mediaeval flavour, and these being very prominent in pretty much all the music works wonderfully for me making it both extremely beautiful and actually quite heavy at times as well! Katherine Blake was very very pregnant, but still managing just fine, on this last date of the tour. Respect. The concert was split into two halves, the first half being 40 mins long. Once again I was entirely captivated by Rabbit, who I find utterly stunning in voice, appearance and charm. However, I'm no longer an unattached man, so have to control my thoughts a little... Oh well, there goes any chance of being allowed to see the Baebes on my own again. Anyway, the first half of the set included many favourites such as Sunrise, My Lady Sleeps, I Sing Of A Maiden and more. Great stuff, and their music really sucks me in live.
The second half was just as good as the first half and was an hour long including the encore, so I can't complain about the time they played for unlike certain recent gigs I have been to... As well as a selection of great stuff which covered their range of goey, quiet and weird, the musicians also did a slot on their own, which was utterly wonderful. I'd happily listen to them on their own for ages - as long as it didn't mean I got to hear less of the Baebes. We also got to see a couple more different outfits as well.
So a wonderful gig, which didn't suffer in comparison to the Ely Cathedral gig - there was quite a bit of different music played, and this time I knew the songs from Illumination a lot better as well. I will definitely go to see them again when they next tour, as they really are wonderful.
Again the Baebes stayed to sign merchandise afterwards, and while I briefly considered being cheeky and presenting my already signed copy of Illumination and asking for extra kisses..., I resisted and headed off since I had somewhere to go, namely Esquires in Bedford for the 80s electro, glam, new romantics night, which just happens to be on my way home.
This also proved excellent, and somewhat surprisingly I met up with several people I knew, which made it even better. All in all a wonderful evening - it could only have been improved if Sara had been able to come along too, which would have pushed it into heavenly...
I headed off in the car from Cambridge around 5pm, and drove to Bedford and listened to Qntal on the way to get me in the mood. I parked up in Bedford and went to the very cheap and excellent Chinese buffet I like there. Yumm.
I then headed on to Milton Keynes - well Wavendon actually, to The Stables Theatre, which is in the country, and is all quite posh. I got there a bit early, expecting doors to open significantly before the performance time, and indeed the bar and merchandise was open, but not the auditorium yet. Not my usual gig - most people clearly middle aged, middle class Classic FM listeners - still I saw one lass with an Epica sweatshirt, so I wasn't entirely out of my element.
After a while everyone was allowed in and I took my seat in the 3rd row. Not entirely used to this - much more used to getting to the front by force of will / elbow as well as queuing early. Still makes a change.
Also it is a pretty modern and posh venue. Rather different to Ely Cathedral where I saw them last December (and that was such a stunning venue, I came here not really expecting quite as much).
The Baebes once again were backed up a selection of instruments of a suitably mediaeval flavour, and these being very prominent in pretty much all the music works wonderfully for me making it both extremely beautiful and actually quite heavy at times as well! Katherine Blake was very very pregnant, but still managing just fine, on this last date of the tour. Respect. The concert was split into two halves, the first half being 40 mins long. Once again I was entirely captivated by Rabbit, who I find utterly stunning in voice, appearance and charm. However, I'm no longer an unattached man, so have to control my thoughts a little... Oh well, there goes any chance of being allowed to see the Baebes on my own again. Anyway, the first half of the set included many favourites such as Sunrise, My Lady Sleeps, I Sing Of A Maiden and more. Great stuff, and their music really sucks me in live.
The second half was just as good as the first half and was an hour long including the encore, so I can't complain about the time they played for unlike certain recent gigs I have been to... As well as a selection of great stuff which covered their range of goey, quiet and weird, the musicians also did a slot on their own, which was utterly wonderful. I'd happily listen to them on their own for ages - as long as it didn't mean I got to hear less of the Baebes. We also got to see a couple more different outfits as well.
So a wonderful gig, which didn't suffer in comparison to the Ely Cathedral gig - there was quite a bit of different music played, and this time I knew the songs from Illumination a lot better as well. I will definitely go to see them again when they next tour, as they really are wonderful.
Again the Baebes stayed to sign merchandise afterwards, and while I briefly considered being cheeky and presenting my already signed copy of Illumination and asking for extra kisses..., I resisted and headed off since I had somewhere to go, namely Esquires in Bedford for the 80s electro, glam, new romantics night, which just happens to be on my way home.
This also proved excellent, and somewhat surprisingly I met up with several people I knew, which made it even better. All in all a wonderful evening - it could only have been improved if Sara had been able to come along too, which would have pushed it into heavenly...
